Disadvantages of Being a Psychologist

Dealing With Insurance and Billing Issues Can Be a Hassle

Whether you operate your own therapy practice or work in an established mental health office, you will have to deal with paperwork, insurance, and billing issues.  If you decide to run your own business, you will need to learn how to bill insurance plans or hire someone to perform this task for you.

Setting up Your Own Practice Can Be Challenging

Building your own business from the ground up can be a daunting task. You need to think about basic tasks such as finding office space, purchasing equipment, obtaining supplies and establishing a client base. Additional issues that you need to consider include things such as malpractice insurance, health insurance, billing practices, document management, and tax obligations.

Dealing With Clients on a Daily Basis Can Be Emotionally Draining

While one of the great rewards of being a psychologist is the opportunity to truly help people, the daily strain of dealing with the difficult issues your clients face can be emotionally exhausting.

In order to reduce the risk of burnout, it is important to find ways to deal with stress. Learning to create a division between your work life and personal life is an important first step. Practicing good stress management techniques can also be very helpful.

Your Work Schedule Can Be Erratic at Times

Even though you might establish normal work hours during the day, as a psychologist you may find that you are required to deal with client issues at unexpected times. Some clients are unable to meet with you during normal business hours due to their own busy work schedules, which means you will have to shuffle your own plans around to make time for these individuals. In other cases, you might be called during off-hours or weekends to meet with clients who need help or who are facing crisis situations. Because of this, flexibility is an important skill for any psychologist to develop.

You Will Need to Devote Time to Finding New Clients

Approximately a third of all psychologists are self-employed and operate their own private practices. While this can be an ideal situation for people who like to work for themselves, it also means that a significant chunk of time, money, and resources must be spent on finding new clients.

One way to accomplish this is to build relationships with medical professionals and other mental health providers so that they will refer potential clients to your practice. Hosting free support group sessions and advertising in the local media are other promotional options. Some professionals enjoy this aspect of running their business, but some feel that it takes away valuable time that could be devoted to therapy work.